La Recherche
by Cat and Kate Soeurs
Summary: Their Code kept them from stopping the destruction of the Silver Millennium. But, at the last minute, when their Code would let them save everything, an evil trapped them... Now they are awake in the present, and The Search for Serenity has begun...


La Recherche  
by Cat & Kate Soeurs  
  
Prologue  
  
  
  
  
  
"blah" = speaking  
  
'blah' = thinking  
  
{blah} = telepathy  
  
*blah* = emphasis, would be italics if we could get our html converter working!!!  
  
  
  
  
*****  
  
  
  
  
Astraea Aurora smacked her sister beside her as Evadne Aurora sighed yet again.  
  
"Quit it!" Astraea told her. "I've told you over and over; either quit mooning over the guy or just go down and meet him!"  
  
"And I've told you, I'll do one or the other when you finally admit you like Eclipse as much as I like Raven!" Evadne stuck her tongue out at her sibling -to which Astraea rolled her eyes in reply- before returning to watching the ruggedly handsome young man in the viewing globe -a large, spherical white crystal- before them.  
  
"Why do you insist on these ridiculous, wishful imaginings?" The voice of someone outside the image that was shone on the viewing globe said. The man in the image frowned off-globe at the speaker.  
  
"Because, sir Lionel, I refuse to believe that something is nonexistent simply because we cannot see it." The man returned. "You cannot see air, can you? Yet we all believe it exists."  
  
"Yes, Mr. Solaris," 'Sir Lionel' replied. "But you can see the fruits of the air, can you not? The trees, the grass, even us. Yet do you have one shred of solid proof that was produced by the mere existence of these 'Aurora Sisters?'"  
  
"That's us!" Evadne gave a 'peace sign' at the globe, even though she knew no one by Astraea, by her side, could see.  
  
"The evidence of our 'mere existence' buddy is that you're still alive!" Astraea grumbled. "Do these idiots have any idea how many mongrols we've stopped from even reaching the Outer Limits of the solar system? Some of those guys not even the Outers would have stood a chance against!"  
  
"We know that, sis, and they know that," She indicated the two men on the screen arguing with Sir Lionel. "But some people, like Raven said, refuse to believe in anything they can't see."  
  
"Oh, I know that, I was just venting," Astraea calmed. She glowered. "I hate it when you get philisofical when I'm trying to vent..."  
  
Evadne only giggled.  
  
"Oh just giggle, I can't hear the bloody hearing!!" Astraea turned her attention back to the globe.  
  
"Can't you see that the light is what makes these things grow?" 'Mr. Solaris' continued. "We are saying that these sisters protect this light which lets us live."  
  
"Then give us solid PROOF and you will be funded for further study!" Sir Lionel rebutted, making the two other men facefall.  
  
"But without the funding, we cannot get your proof!" The other of the two men replied.  
  
"Then find a way, dismissed!" With that the hearing was ended, the men gathering their things.  
  
Astraea growled, "The evidence is called YOUR STILL ALIVE! Geez, what is up with this moron?!"  
  
Evadne sighed, "Hon, they are the only two in the universe that really believe we exist. If we went on your principle, the others are *all* morons."   
  
"EXACTLY! Sis, you are finally seeing my light!" She cracked her knuckles and growled angrily. They both watched the two in the viewing globe as they left the room.   
  
"Shh.." Evadne hushed her sister and listened to their conversation.  
  
"Great, just great! Another refusal, this is getting depressing, Eclipse." Raven said as he stuffed some papers into a suitcase.  
  
The one called Eclipse replied, "I know, I know. They are becoming increasingly difficult."  
  
Hearing this, Evadne suddenly clapped her hands together, "I have an idea!"  
  
Astraea suddenly backed away, "Oooooh no! No way! Your ideas always involve me bailing us out of something!"  
  
Evadne grinned evilly, ignoring her comment, "What if we *give* them some proof?"  
  
"What?" Astraea blinked rapidly, several times in surprise, Evadne's pleading puppy eyes boring into her the entire time. "You've got to be joking! You're always the one blabbering about how it's taboo for us to even *think* of leaving Men'me'a!"  
  
'Men'me'a' was ancient Istarlai, Astraea and Evadne's race, for 'place of light.' Appropriate, since the fortress of Men'me'a was a huge palace floating in an endless white expanse...  
  
"Yeah, but this would actually be helping somebody instead of allieving our own personal boredom!" Evadne pleaded. "C'mon, it's for a good cause! Proving our own existence!"  
  
"And that's a good cause?" Astraea frowned. She hated having to be the big siser and remind her sister of things neither of them wanted to be reminded of... "Evadne, in case you have forgotten, it's imperitive now more than ever that people DON'T believe in us. If they did, any enemy that came along would make preperations to deal with two extra back-up senshi. May I remind you of Metallia?"  
  
Evadne sighed and her shoulders fell slightly as she returned to watching the two human men walking down the corridors of the Lunarian Embassy on Earth. There weren't many others there; the Embassy was all but deserted; things between Earth and Moon hadn't been very good lately...  
  
"I just feel so...helpless." Evadne said softly. "I want to help *somebody!* But we're stuck here...we're not allowed to help until the very last minute, and only when it is the entire universe that is in danger..."  
  
"Life sucks, we deal. We deal because we have to." Astraea said, watching the one called Eclipse in the viewing globe. She wanted to help them...but handing them proof of their existence was so against every rule they had ever lived by it was frightening...  
  
She was saved from having to think such depressing thoughts any longer by the flickering of the viewing globe. She and Evadne sat up straighter, smoothing their hair and skirts, knowing what the silver glow of the globe meant. The image in the globe flickered, then clarified into the face of the woman that had always been the only 'mother' the two girls had ever known.  
  
Queen Serenity.  
  
The Aurora Sisters stood and bowed. The Queen nodded in acknowledgement.  
  
"Aurora Senshi," The Queen addressed them. "As you know, tonight is the night of my daughter and Prince Endymion's engagement ball. Or rather, was. War has officially broken out between Earth and Moon as of this morning. Endymion's parents have been dethroned by their cousin and his daughter, Countess Beryl. We believe both to be possessed by Metallia. It seems that the Shadow covering the Earth has been her doing after all."  
  
"Metallia is free?" Evadne gasped. The Queen nodded.  
  
"I'm afraid so."  
  
"Let us come, Your Majesty!" Astraea declared, forming a fist over her heart in suppressed anger. "You know we can squash her before she even has a chance to raise a finger against you or the princess!"  
  
"I know you could, but, please," the Queen looked away slightly. "Everything tells me I should let you, and yet I feel it in my heart that it is imperitve that you stay where you are, stay safe. I feel even this enemy is beyond you...which is silly, I know. You have conquered many others equal to Metallia. Which leads me to believe there is another evil behind Metallia, one so powerful that we cannot even see it. You must stay hidden, stay safe and alive until this other evil reveals itself. Promise me you won't come out until the last possible moment! Until the lives of everyone in existence are at stake, please? Until your Code forbids you from not helping? Please promise me? Promise me you will stay out of the fighting as long as possible?"  
  
"I- Queen, you can't ask this of us!" Evadne cried, shaking her head.  
  
"She has, Evadne," Astraea said softly. "And we will obey..." She glanced at her sister. Evadne stared at her elder sibling for a moment, before tearing her gaze away. She shut her eyes tight...then opened them, swallowed, and nodded once, firmly.  
  
"Aye," she said, defeat in her tone. "Your wish is our command, Your Majesty." She bowed her head to the Queen, who, her face riveted with relief and sorrow at the same time, returned the nod.  
  
"Thank you, Aurora Senshi," The Queen bid the girls farewell, and her image faded in a flurry of gold and silver.  
  
Astraea's hands clenched into fists...  
  
"I can't believe I gave my word to so ridiculous a request..." She spat. Evadne's eyes glassed over with hardness.  
  
"We had no choice." She said. "The same code that keeps us here, the Code that we live by, is the same Code that forbid us from denying our Queen the only thing she has asked of us in a century."  
  
"I know, but..." Astraea trailed off. She turned when she sensed a trickling of power behind her, and she came about to see that Evadne was now clad in her training gi; white leggings, cream blouse with full sleeves edged in and silver strings lacing up a 'v' slit in the neckline, along with soft-soled silver boots. In her hand was a white, eight foot long slender staff topped with a bladed, spiraling silver star. In the center of the star was a small spike-star prism, lightly tinged with a silvery-blue. The stunning affect was topped off by her knee length flawless white hair in a long braid and her flashing silver-blue eyes.  
  
"I think we both need to let off some steam," she said. She held out her right hand -her left holding her Staff- and another staff matching hers appeared, only this one was black, with a gold spiraling bladed star at the top, except this star was spiraling the opposite direction as the one on hers. In the center of the gold spiraling star was a spike-star prism like hers, only tinged with blue-gold. She tossed it to Astraea, who caught it deftly with one hand, grinning as she did so.  
  
"Aye, that sounds like the best idea you've had all day, sis." Astraea closed her eyes, and a golden glow swirled up around her. When it faded, she was clad in an outfit identical to her sister's, except in color; leggings were black, as was the blouse, edged in gold with gold lacings and gold boots, her knee length black hair tied back with a golden cord, her black bangs blowing in the after-magic wind over golden eyes flecked with blue.  
  
Evadne waved her hand at the viewing orb and the two chairs beside it, and instantly all three objects were at the far end of the long, long, large room, out of harms way. She took up a battle stance, with Astraea mimicked. Both grinned ferally, nodded, and the spar battle began.  
  
  
  
  
  
*****  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"I *so* want a rematch!" Astraea grumbled as she entered the massive room, a huge, heated pool in the center and surrounded with showers of all shapes and sizes. Evadne followed, giggling impishly.  
  
"Maybe next time, sister dear," Evadne said teasingly as she wiggled out of her sweaty training outfit and slipped into her favorite shower. Astraea grumbled, yanked off her own torn and sweaty clothes, tossed them into a nearby hamper, and made a running leap into the deep end of the heated pool.   
  
When Evadne had washed herself free of grit and sweat and thoroghly shampooed and conditioned her hair, she joined Astraea in swimming laps up and down the pool.  
  
"You know, for girls you work out daily for fun, we sure aren't very buff," Evadne made an observation. "Wonder why that is."  
  
"Oh, we're buff," Astraea said, shaking her wet hair out of her eyes. She held up an an arm and flexed; smooth, sleek muscles visibly rippled under her skin. Evadne did the same, with the same result, and shrugged. "Yeah, I guess." Was all she said. It was little conversations, pointless, like these, that kept the two of them sane. 'Sane' being a loosely used term that is, at least as far as Evadne was concerned...give the girl an ounce of sugar, and nice knowing you!  
  
It was an hour later after more laps, another pointless question, and a three water fights that the two of them were dried off and dressed; Astraea in black pants and a gold, 'v' necked, angel-sleeved top edged with fiery bronze, with her hair pulled back behind a small circlet bearing the spiral-star insgnia of her powers. Resting just above the valley of her full breast was the golden spike-star that had been at the top of her staff, on a thread-thin black silk cord, at half it's normal size, about the size of a golfball.  
  
Evadne donned a short, gathered white skirt that flared out when she spun around and went to halfway down her shapely thighs. Her top was fitted white, the swooped, gathered neckline tied with silver strings at her shoulders. The ends of the strings fell down with the multitude of seemingly endless gathered folds of white material of her slitted sleeves that fell to her knees. The top half of her hair was in a french braid, the rest of it hanging free, diamond clips holding back her bangs. At her throat was the spike-star prism crystal that had been in the center of her staff, only smaller, twice the size of a thumnail and held in place with a thin silver chain.  
  
"Y'know, it's fun dressing up like this all the time, not having to worry about some twit asking us what we were all dressed up for," Astraea said out of nowhere after securing her circlet. "It's nice being able to look good just for the fun of it."  
  
"I agree," Evadne grinned, getting up from her place at her vanity. Her face fell slightly.  
  
"Don't even think it, Evadne," Astraea warned. "We're not going down to Earth."  
  
"Why can't we go just this once?" Evadne pleaded.  
  
"A) our Code forbids it, B) Queen Serenity forbade it, and C) *I'm* forbidding it!"  
  
"But it's so boring with just the Simulator to recreate what a real life would be like!"  
  
"The Simulator was a gift from Queen Serenity!" Astraea snapped.  
  
"And a wonderful gift it was, but it is no substitute for the real thing!" Evadne whirled on her sibling, sleeves flying about her. "Look at us, Astraea! We are two of the most powerful beings on the face of the universe and yet we are stuck here, caged like rabbits bred in captivity, and with just as little experience with the rest of our kind!"  
  
"We have no 'our kind!'" Astraea hissed. "You know we are the last of our race, Evadne. You don't need to remind me oh-so-subtly!"  
  
"I didn't mean the Istarlai!" Evadne growled. "I meant other *people!* And you know just as well as I that the Lunarians are descents of the last Istarlai!"  
  
"Except they can't use magic without the aid of Stones." Astraea sniffed.  
  
"We use Stones, as well!" Evadne snapped, gripping her Prism at her throat.  
  
"Our Prisms enhance our power and our control over our power, yes, but we don't *need* it in order to do *this!*" Astraea flung her arm out, pointing sharply at the wall. Just as suddenly as she had executed the move, that section of the wall was no longer there, cleanly blown away. The golden Prism at her throat hadn't even flickered, indicating that none of its power had been used.  
  
"I don't think I feel like going into the Simulator with you, today, sister," Evadne said lowly, her voice frighteningly calm.  
  
"I concur that today that would be a bad idea." Astraea seethed. The two siblings glared at each other, whirled on their heels, and with a indignant 'hmph' they exited through different doors, each heading for seperate Simulators, huge rooms that projected illusions such as streets, towns, shopes, parties, assisting the girls a few hours in imaginging for themselves that they lead a normal life.  
  
This was the first time in a decade they had done it seperately, or at least attempted to. Within the hour, they found themselves rushing back together, apologizing, hugging, and promising to never let their own personal fears and frustrations control them like that ever again.  
  
Little did they know how long that 'ever' would be.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
*****  
  
  
  
  
  
  
It was later that night -'night' being a relative term since there really was no such thing as night or day in their realm- that Astraea awoke, though it took her a minute to figure out why.  
  
Guilt.  
  
She had not felt it in a long time, yet today she had many things to feel guilty for.  
  
Guilt for yelling at her sister, her best friend, her eternal companion.  
  
Guilt for making a promise to her 'mother' that could very well lead to the death of hundreds of lives...  
  
Guilt for forcing herself not to help a human man she had come to at least become affectionate of through the simple act of doing nothing more than watching him...  
  
Astraea had to see him.  
  
She had to!  
  
The Senshi of Legends threw aside her thick golden comforter and slipped off the high bed, and padded, barefoot and only in her simple silk, pale gold night gown, her hair loose and free, out of her room and into the Grand Hall, where, in the center of the huge room, floated the milky white viewing globe. She walked to it, and touched it...pictured Eclipse's face...  
  
Instantly his face was reflected in the globe, his handsome, handsome face. Midnight black hair, hair blacker than her own, brushing smooth olive skin and waving over deep sea-green eyes. His face was a kind face, a compassionate face, one full of mirth and laughter...  
  
At least it usually was...  
  
Instantly upon seeing Eclipse's expression Astraea was on full alert. She brushed a finger along the surface of the globe, commanding it to 'zoom out' so that she could see more of Eclipse's surroundings...  
  
What she saw made her blood boil.  
  
Eclipse and Raven, his cousin, were back to back, surrounded by five creatures made of shadow and fire, creatures that Astraea had never seen before. Their intent was clear though, as they all, as one, lunged for their prey they had surrounded. Both men lashed out with feet, fists, kicks, punches, head-butts, Raven with a dager and Eclipse with a broken bottle.  
  
"Metallia..." Astraea hissed; this could only mean one thing. Metallia wanted to make sure these two didn't prove her and Evadne's existence! But why?   
  
It didn't matter. Whatever Metallia wanted must not come to pass, therefore those two men must live!  
  
She ignored the bit of her heart, as she whirled to run to Evadne, that told her there was more to her wanting to keep Eclipse alive than her duty...  
  
All at once, a promise was forgotten.  
  
  
  
  
  
*****  
  
  
  
  
  
"Evadne! Evadne, wake up!" Astraea shook her sibling violently, and Evadne bolted up in bed.  
  
"*What?*" She grumbled through her groggy morning voice. "What the devil do you want?"  
  
"Metallia is attacking Raven and Eclipse!" Astraea hissed. Immediately Evadne was fully awake. Astraea grabbed her sister's arm and hauled the girl, clad only in a slinky-slip of a nightgown, out of her room and into the grand hall, where the image of the two humans barely holding their own was still visible.  
  
"My God..." Evadne breathed. "How have they held up this long?"  
  
"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth and get transformed!" Vesia snapped, snatching her Universal Staff from out of nothing. She began twirling it, her mouth open to chant the ancient words...  
  
"Stop, you bimbo!" Evadne cried, stopping her sister's twirling by grabbing the Staff. Astraea glared. "Listen to me!" Evadne cried. "If we go down there to fight Metallia's minions as the legendary Aurora Senshi, Sailor Universe and Sailor Galaxy, not only will Raven and Eclipse know we're real, but so will everyone else, inluding the enemy! We have to go, yes, but we should use glamours!"  
  
"Point taken," Astraea said, nodding stiffly. Evadne nodded in return, stepped back, and summoned her own Galaxy Staff. They stood across from each other, the winds of building magic sweeping around them...they closed their eyes...that same wind swept up around them now colored gold and silver.  
  
When it died down, in place of Astraea and Evadne were two trourist Mercurians, complete with aqua blue hair and Astraea with black eyes and Evadne with ice blue. Their complextions had gone from pale milky white to tanned olive.  
  
"Come on, let's go!" Astraea said, gripping her staff -which now looked like an ordinary wooden staff- as she grabbed Evadne's hand. They stepped up to the globe, closed their eyes...concentrating...both girls reached out and lightly touched the surface... The globe flashed, then turned inky black, signaling it's transformation from a viewing globe into their transportation orb.  
  
"Take us to these brave soulds in toil..." Evadne whispered.  
  
The orb obeyed.  
  
  
  
  
  
*****  
  
  
  
  
  
"Why are these things so intent on killing us?" Eclipse growled as he threw another weary punch; he'd lost the bottle ages ago. Weak as it was, it was strong enough to force the shadowy creature to stumble back. It came at him again, and Eclipse lashed out with a kick that swept its feet out from under it. It fell to the comblestone road with a crack that betrayed that something had been broken. Eclipse didn't expect that broken something, when the creature stood up again, to be the cobblestone ground!  
  
"Better yet, what are these things in the first place?" Raven grunted; he still had his dagger, and he was using it and everything else he had to the full. Eclipse didn't have an answer, but he didn't expect one; this fight, if they were going to survive it, was going to take every ounce of concetaton, with none to spare for pointless chitchat.  
  
"Okay, y'know, I have seen some pretty rotten things done by Metallia, but attacking two perfectly innoent humans for no reason is really, really low, even for her. Well, okay, maybe not, that's actually just the thing I'd expect from a scumbag like her, but still, she could have at least sent a decent bad guy! You shadow dudes are pathetic!"  
  
The taunting voice, sweet and most definately young and female, surrounded them on a wind not natural. The shadow creatures froze, and Eclipse and Raven were allowed to catch their breath, all the while looking around for the speaker, when a second voice spoke up.  
  
"Honestly, you think you creatures down there would have formed a plan, or something, lured one of them to an ally then killed him, then kill the other whent hey followed. But noooooooo, you decide to just jump gun them all at once, in the middle of the road, where any good-meaning person could jump in and assist them. For you, bad move. For us and the guys? Thanks!"  
  
That laughing 'thanks' was the last sound the shadow-fire creatures would ever hear; three of them screeched in agony as they were slashed at from behind; they burst into flame, dissintigrated, and became nothing more than dust at the same time another trio on the other side of Raven and Eclipse did the same. When the six creatures were gone, behind them were seen two Mercurians, both with blue hair and olive skin, clad in similar outfits of loose breeches, travel worn tunic, and patched cloak. Each was on either side of the two men, and no sooner had their first three opponents vanished into puffs of smoke and dust than they each lashed out again in a flurry of deadly beautiful slashes and sweeps, kicks and punches, ducks and leaps. They seemed to dance together, drawing the enemy away from the guys until they were apart from the battle altogether. They simply stood, watching the fight go on in front of them.  
  
The two girls worked as one, covering each other without even pausing or even glancing at the other. Their movements were so liquid and perfect it was as if they were actually having fun while performing this deadly beautiful dance of death.  
  
Within moments, the cobblestone road was most decidedly much dustier than it had been before.  
  
The Mercurian with the ice blue eyes whirled, and was instantly beside them, her companion not far behind.  
  
"Ohmigosh, are you guys okay?" She breathed, examining Raven for serious injuries before hugging him impulsively. He blinked before hesitantly returning the embrace, amusement and surprise both on his face. "We're fine, ma'am," he managed to say before the black-eyed Mercurian yanked the ice-blue eyed one away, hissed something in her ear, then turned to face them.  
  
"Stay alive," she said. "It's important that you do." She looked to her companion, who only grinned innocently as the black-eyed Mercurian turned and began walking away. The ice-blue eyed one rolled her eyes, and stepped up to Raven.   
  
Into his ear she softly whispered, "Thank you for believing in us." She planted the lightest of faerie kisses on the corner of his mouth, then winked to the surprised Raven before turning and bounding after her sister...  
  
Evadne grinned, and, knowing the chocolate haired, golden-brown eyed man was watching her, she let her glamour disguise fade ever so slightly...so that it was like the appearence of a blue-haired, ice-blue eyed Mercurian was a ghost image over the real person; a white-haired, silver-nightgown clad woman with large, transparent dragon wings.  
  
Raven's eyes widened as he glimpsed, for just a moment, a vision, as the image of the Mercurian faded, to be briefly replaced with a figure he'd only seen in his dreams and in faerie books...  
  
He shook himself, and the image, and the Mercurian girls, were gone.  
  
"Did I just see what I think I saw?" Eclipse said softly from beside him. Raven shook his head.  
  
"I don't know," he said. He glanced around himself at the dark street. "But I would suggest getting indoors before we discuss what we have whitnessed tonight any further."  
  
"Agreed." Eclipse nodded, and for all their wariness as he and his friend continued on their way towards the tavernhouse, both failed to glimpse to inky shadows atop the building they had previously been standing beside. One of them slipped down the side of the building to follow in the direction the two 'Mercurian's had gone, and the other slid after the two humans...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
*****  
  
  
  
  
  
"Not *again!* I want a rematch!!" Astraea growled, drenched in sweat as she collasped on a plush seat.  
  
Evadne grinned and collasped in another chair, "Maybe another day, dear sister! I still win!" She burst into mock-maniac laughter... Anything to keep their minds off of what had happened earlier that night...both were so concentrating on forgetting how they had broken on of their most precious laws mere hours ago, that none had noticed the inky black shape creep up behind them both...and gently, oh so gently blow something towards them...  
  
Astraea's eyebrow twitched. "You are something else--ow." She put a hand to her chest, a dull pain resonating through her body. "I wonder what that is," she said as it faded. She hissed as it came back, stronger this time.  
  
"Probably heartburn or something, I've got it too." Evadne replied, wincing. The pain increased in both sisters... Evadne groaned as she collapsed into one of the chairs in her room, holding her forehead and clutching at her shirt over her heart.  
  
"Maybe...maybe we should lay down." Evadne whispered. "This...this...maybe this is a...a punishment for...for breaking the Code..." She was breathing heavily now, wheezing almost as harshly as Astraea was.  
  
Astraea nodded, "I-I..I agree..." She coughed weakily.  
  
They both retired to their bedrooms, stumbling, leaning on each other, and both collapsed on their beds... and fell into a dreamless sleep, pain increasing by the second until they both cried out in bloodcurdling screams.  
  
{Sister!} Astraea called out to Evadne with her mind, a talent both of them hardly used.  
  
{I know...} Evadne responded weakly in Astraea's mind. {This...this is wrong...we're...we're being attacked, Astraea...}  
  
{I know...}  
  
{What do...what do we do?} Evadne was fading...  
  
But before they could analyze anything, they fell into a dreamless sleep that was anything but natural.  
  
  
  
  
******  
  
  
  
  
Evadne groaned softly as she shook her head and sat up. The extreme pain was gone and was now a dull ache, she noticed. She slipped out of bed, looked around her room- She started as she saw Astraea sitting in a chair in her room, tears spilling down her face.  
  
"Astraea..." Evadne breathed...something was very, very wrong, in order for her sister to be crying so silently, so openly... "Wh-Wha--"  
  
"Gone. It's all gone." Astraea interupted, her voice a hoarse whisper. She looked up, and their eyes met...telepathy lending itself, Evadne gasped as she suddenly knew everything Astraea knew...  
  
Evadne shut her eyes tight against the flood of pain...  
  
Raven...  
  
She had only just finally gotten to even see him...  
  
"How.." Evadne took a deep breath. "How long..?"  
  
"A thousand years...at least." Astraea answered softly.  
  
"The pain--"  
  
"We must go to them as they are now--" Astraea cut in with her own thoughts.  
  
"Don't INTERUPT me!" Evadne shouted, emotion filling her voice. She face softened as she saw how still her sister sat, and she slumped.  
  
"As you wish.." Astraea replied softly, looking the picture of surrender.  
  
Evadne sat heavily in a plush white armchair across from her sister, quiet for a moment, unsure of what to ask as all the knowlage of the battles in the other realm filled her memory.   
  
"A thousand years...we've slept for a thousand years..." Evadne said after a few silent moments. "That pain..."  
  
"Someone poisoned us somehow." Astraea said. "To make us sleep and miss the battle. Someone made sure we couldn't interfere with the downfall of the Silver Millennium." Astraea stood, collecting herself. "I've looked in the viewing globel and many things have changed. We must change with it. Understand?"  
  
Evadne shook her head, tears now falling down her cheeks. "No... but I know what we must do."  
  
Astraea smiled sadly, tears spilling down her cheeks as well. "Good. Let's prepare."  
  
Evadne nodded, and stood. The two sisters clasped hands and left in search of a way to prepare themselves for this new time they had been thrust into so suddenly...  
  
  
  
  
To Be Continued... 


End file.
